This March, five things people love are all going to be on the big screen together: Steve Carell, Jim Carrey, Steve Buscemi, Olivia Wilde and magic. The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, is scheduled for release March 15 and earlier this year, /Film was invited to the set to see a few of these comedic geniuses work. We spoke to the director and producer, saw Carell and Buscemi work their way through a hilarious scene, and even saw the duo lowered from the ceiling to perform magic.

In the coming weeks, we’ll have the full details for the set visit but, after the jump, read a few more details to get you ready. Read More »

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NBC’s Community may be on hiatus, but don’t think for a second that its cast has been slacking off. Not only is production still in full swing, several of the show’s stars have been working on outside projects as well. Gillian Jacobs, for one, has just wrapped Revenge for Jolly! and has a part in this summer’s Seeking a Friend for the End of the World. She’ll next head to Burt Wonderstone, with Steve Carell and Jim Carrey.

Directed by Don Scardino (30 Rock), the comedy centers around a Las Vegas magician (Carell) who finds himself upstaged by a hipper illusionist (Carrey). He then ditches his partner and tries to rediscover his passion for magic. Jacobs is set to play a woman who hooks up with Carell’s character after meeting him at one of his shows. The film already boasts a seriously talented comedic cast, with Brad Garrett, James Gandolfini, Steve Buscemi, and Olivia Wilde on board as well, and Jacobs seems like a fantastic addition. Burt Wonderstone is currently shooting in Las Vegas for a 2013 release. [THR]

After the jump, Jacobs’ Revenge for Jolly! co-star Oscar Isaac nabs another new role.

For a while there it looked like Ariel Vromen‘s The Iceman was on the verge of falling apart, as James Franco dropped out of the project. But the hitman biopic is moving along with David Schwimmer and Chris Evans added to the cast in recent weeks, and now Winona Ryder has boarded the picture as well in a role once slated for Maggie Gyllenhaal.

Ryder will play the wife of mob contract killer Richard Kuklinski, a.k.a. The Iceman (Michael Shannon), who’s unaware of the true nature of her husband’s career. Ray Liotta and Ryan O’Nan will also star.

Based on interview footage and Anthony Bruno‘s book The Iceman: The True Story of a Cold-Blooded Killer, the picture is scheduled to begin production early next year in Louisiana. [Deadline]

After the jump, a former Everybody Loves Raymond star gets fired by a former The Office star, a Broadway adaptation casts a Broadway star, and a trio of rising Brit talents sign on for an artsy romance.

Louis Leterrier‘s magician heist movie Now You See Me keeps getting better. The movie features a story about a group of illusionists who rob banks during their performances, and then give at least some of the proceeds out to the audience, even as the FBI is hot on their tail.

The cast already includes Mark Ruffalo, Jesse Eisenberg, Morgan Freeman, Isla Fisher, Melanie Laurent, Woody Harrelson and Dave Franco, and now Michael Caine has signed on to play Arthur Tressler, the sponsor of the illusionists. The film will be released on January 18, 2013, and unless we see a trailer that looks simply horrible, Now You See Me will be high on our list of anticipated popcorn movies until that date arrives. [Moviehole]

After the break, Olivia Wilde and Steve Buscemi join the cast of another magician film, Burt Wonderstone, while Vin Diesel and David Twohy continue to try and perfect the magic trick of getting a third Riddick film made. Read More »

Nicole Kidman‘s Blossom Films and Olympus Films have teamed up to acquire the movie rights for Kevin Wilson‘s bestselling book The Family Fang, which they plan to develop as a starring vehicle for Kidman. The two companies previously collaborated on Rabbit Hole, for which Kidman received a Best Actress Oscar nomination.

Wilson’s debut novel centers around a couple of performance artists who regularly incorporate their unwilling children into their bizarre acts. Years later, misfortune prompts the now-grown son and daughter to return home, where they find their parents gearing up for one final masterpiece. [Deadline]

After the jump, New Line pulls together an intriguing shortlist for Burt Wonderstone‘s female lead, and The East‘s terrorist organization gets one more member.

Sometime last summer, a report surfaced that Jim Carrey had been offered a part, possibly the lead, in the magician comedy Burt Wonderstone. Steve Carell has since landed the title role, but now it seems Carrey may be interested in climbing aboard in a different capacity.

Carrey has entered negotiations for the film, which will be directed by 30 Rock‘s Don Scardino. Chad Kultgen first drafted the film, then John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein did a rewrite, and Jason Reitman was recently hired to polish the script. The story follows a Vegas magician who breaks up with his stage partner and finds himself upstaged by a younger, hipper illusionist. Carrey’s potential character in the film has not been revealed, though I suppose the most obvious guess is that he’ll play Wonderstone’s former partner. [Deadline]

After the jump, Eduardo Noriega takes on the Governator, while two Immortals stars head to Asia.

Briefly: One of the great Hollywood means to Making an Extra Buck is working as a script doctor or uncredited rewrite artist. Many a now-famous writer/director has done such work either early in their career (Quentin Tarantino on Crimson Tides) or throughout it (John Sayles on more movies than I have space to list here).

The latest writer/director to take a rewrite gig is Jason Reitman, who in between his films Young Adult and Labor Day (which just cast Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin) will do rewrite work on the Steve Carell comedy Burt Wonderstone that recently tappedDon Scardino (30 Rock) to direct. THR doesn’t mention his name (oops) but does list the previous writers: Chad Kultgen first drafted the film, then John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein took over and crafted the draft that has been in play for a while. The film is about “a traditional magic man (Carell) who is dethroned by a hip younger illusionist and must then find a way to rediscover his love for magic.”

The comedy Burt Wonderstone, which is planning to star Steve Carell as a “traditional magic man who is dethroned by a hip younger illusionist and must then find a way to rediscover his love for magic,” has been kicking around for a few years. John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein (Horrible Bosses) wrote the script, and the film has had a couple different directors attached. Jake Kasdan was going to make the movie before Steve Carell came on board; then a few months ago Parks and Recreation director Charles McDougall was in talks to direct.

Now New Line has tappedDon Scardino, 30 Rock director, to direct. This looks like a final deal, and the movie will really start to move forward. It will shoot in October; now we have to wait to see who gets the gig playing the rival young magician.

Steve Carell has a bunch of possible projects in the works, and earlier this week he became attached to produce and star in an adaptation of the novel The Dogs of Babel. It looked then like that would definitely be his next film after his departure from The Office. And it still might be.

But Burt Wonderstone is another movie to which the actor has been attached for a few months, and the film may have just taken a step forward, as Charles McDougall is now in talks to direct. Read More »